This invention relates to a vehicle for farming operations. More particularly, the invention concerns a dimensionally-adjustable straddle-type crop-working vehicle which is capable of performing farm operations on crops of various heights and row-spacing. The invention further concerns a lightweight vehicle with evenly-distributed weight at its ground-traveling members and which is easily adapted to hillside field operations.
Prior to the general mechanization of farming, crops were planted in rows spaced apart a distance dictated by the plant's requirements, such as proper sunlight penetration, and the necessity for humans or animals to walk between the rows. With the advent of mechanized farm methods, additional spacing between rows of crops was often required to accommodate tractors and other machinery. Accordingly, the time-efficiency provided by such machinery is often accompanied by a reduction in land-use efficiency. Associated problems include nonproductive ground requiring continuous cultivation, weeding, and watering; overabundance of sunlight at ground level which encourages weed growth and loss of moisture; and the tendency of farm vehicle wheels to pack soil adjacent the plant rows, hampering crop root growth between the rows thereby depriving crops of moisture and nutrients in that area.
Conventional farm equipment also fails to provide an effective means for operation on hillsides. Further, conventional tractors are not built to fit between narrow rows or high enough to straddle moderate height crops such as cane berries, grapes, blueberries, and the like. Accordingly, the present invention has the following objects:
(1) to provide a crop-working vehicle that permits rows of crops to be spaced apart the optimum distances for the particular plant rather than a non-optimum distance dictated by the equipment;
(2) to provide a crop-working vehicle with an adjustable width between the ground-contacting members to accommodate working a variety of plants;
(3) to provide a farm vehicle adaptable to hillside operation such that the vehicle and operator maintain a stable, upright attitude;
(4) to provide a crop-working vehicle which can straddle rows of crops, yet which has a center of gravity sufficiently low to afford adequate stabilization;
(5) to provide a crop-working vehicle with an adjustable straddle height;
(6) to provide an agricultural vehicle combining light weight and improved ground contact weight distribution to minimize ground compaction adjacent the rows of crops;
(7) to provide a farm vehicle small enough to be transported on an ordinary truck, yet versatile enough to carry or pull standard farm tools and able to straddle wide, high crops;
(8) to provide a unitary frame vehicle with fore-and-aft stability; and
(9) to provide a relatively inexpensive crop-working farm vehicle.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, such description makes reference to the following drawings.